Bird Dog (song)

Last updated

"Bird Dog"
Bird Dog single cover.jpg
Single by the Everly Brothers
from the album The Best of The Everly Brothers
A-side Devoted to You [1] [2]
ReleasedJuly 28, 1958
RecordedJuly 10, 1958
Genre Pop [3]
Length2:20
Label Cadence 1350
Songwriter(s) Boudleaux Bryant
The Everly Brothers singles chronology
"All I Have to Do Is Dream" / "Claudette"
(1958)
"Bird Dog" / "Devoted to You"
(1958)
"Problems" / "Love of My Life"
(1958)

"Bird Dog" is a song written by Boudleaux Bryant and recorded by the Everly Brothers. [4] It was released in 1958 and was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Country Chart for six weeks. [5] The song also hit No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (stalled behind Domenico Modugno's "Nel blu, dipinto di Blu (Volare)" and Tommy Edwards' "It's All in the Game"), as well as peaking at no. 2 for three weeks on the R&B charts. [6]

Contents

Background

The song deals with the singer's dismay that a boy, by the name of Johnny, is trying to take his girlfriend away. The singer calls him a bird dog as a result of his behavior.

The musical structure is relatively unusual in that it has a 12 bar blues stanza and an 8 bar blues chorus.

Personnel

Charts

Cover versions

References

  1. "US single artwork". 45cat.com. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  2. "US single artwork". discogs.com. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  3. Marsh, Dave (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Plume. p. 482. ISBN   0-452-26305-0.
  4. The Everly Brothers interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
  5. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 117.
  6. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 194.
  7. "Session Legend Floyd "Lightnin'" Chance Dies at Age 79". Cmt.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  8. "Artist Chart History Details: Everly Brothers". The Official Charts Company . Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  9. McAleer, Dave. "Every No.1 in the 1960s is listed from all the nine different magazine charts!". Dave McAleer's website. Archived from the original on October 12, 2010. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
  10. "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  11. The Newbeats, "Bird Dog" single release Retrieved April 25, 2015